Samsung Galaxy S3, which has dethroned iPhone 4S as the most popular smartphone of 2012, added another laurel to its wreath by breezing past the 10 million sales mark earlier than expected. The launch of 64GB variant later this year is expected to push the sales figure up further.

In June, Samsung's CEO predicted that its flagship phone, Galaxy S3, would hit the 10 million mark by the end of July. The prediction turned out to be correct, albeit slightly earlier, as, according to Yonhap news agency, JK Shin, chief of Samsung Mobile, told reporters on Sunday that the Android-powered smartphone has surpassed the sales mark. "It appears that it (Galaxy S3) has exceeded 10 million units," Shin said. Though it isn't clear whether Shin meant shipment numbers to retailers or the number of handsets that reached the hands of the end-consumers, yet, it clearly reflects the immense popularity of the Android device as it translates to about 190,000 units being sold everyday ever since its debut on May 29.

What's more, this sales figure is expected to get a fillip when the Galaxy S3 64GB variant hits the international market later this year. Earlier this month, it was rumored that Samsung had shelved production of the 64GB storage variant and would be content in offering 16GB and 32GB variants as the device has a microSD card slot allowing expansion to 64GB. However, last week, Samsung cleared the air, telling Verge that "The 64GB model of the Galaxy S III will be available during the second half of this year. The market availability and timing may vary and will be determined at the time." Yonhap predicts that Galaxy S3 could top the 40 million mark by the end of 2012, making it Samsung's highest selling smartphone ever.  

As for the prediction coming true early, we're not surprised, because Galaxy S3 is no ordinary device and has won accolades from various reviewers including CNet, which gave it top billing, calling it "an excellent, top-end phone" with "high performing hardware and creative software features." The Android superphone boasts of 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display (1280x720 pixels resolution) protected by Corning Gorilla Glass, 1.4GHz Exynos quad-core processor (the U.S. variant is powered by Snapdragon S4 1.5GHz dual core CPU), 1GB RAM (2GB RAM in the U.S variant), 8-megapixel rear-facing shooter and 1.9-megapixel front facing camera for video chats, and a plethora of other features like S Beam (aka NFC), S Voice (Siri's rival), Smart Stay (face recognition technology that ensures that the phone doesn't go to sleep while you're looking at the device), and Pop Up Play that gives the device an unmatched user experience. Add to it the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS with TouchWiz UI overlay and you've got yourself a winner here.    

Galaxy S3 is available in over 140 countries and comes in three colors - Marble White, Pebble Blue and Garnet Red (the third color being available exclusively at AT&T) - and is priced at $199.99 (16GB), $249.99 (32GB) with a two-year contract at AT&T, Sprint and Verizon. T-Mobile is also selling the device, but be ready to cough up $80 more.